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And a part of me also wants her to have something to remember me by. Someplace to raise the baby, for however long she’s allowed to stay on the land.
"Definitely." I walk over to the ten-thousand-dollar telescope that is set up near the back window. Touching it, I smile. "I can't wait to show my fiancée."
"If she has eyes, she'll be impressed," he affirms.
"Good man." I turn to walk to the door. "Thanks for doing my job on such short notice."
"Of course." He bows his head, walking out with me.
We part ways. He gets in his truck, and I head through the light sprinkling of trees toward Pearl's trailer. I'm excited to show her the finished cabin. I can just imagine her excited smile, and how she'll throw her arms around my neck. Anticipation of her reaction drives my footsteps as I walk into her yard and up the steps to the trailer.
When I open the door to the trailer, though, I can immediately tell that the energy level inside is much lower and moodier. Pearl is sitting at the dining room table, frowning at a small paper box in front of her. She looks up at me when I enter and her face screws up.
"Hey." Pushing my hand through my hair, I take a seat across from her. "What's up, buttercup?"
Pearl gives me a shaky smile. "I'm late."
I spread my hands. "Late for what, darlin’? You're going to have to give me more to go on than that."
She gulps and pushes the box across the checked tablecloth. Using a single fingertip, I spin the box around. My eyes widen as I read it.
Home Pregnancy Test.
Glancing up at her, I take a moment to phrase my question. "You think you're pregnant?"
I leave off the word ‘already’, though it seems obvious enough to me. We've only been together for a few months. I just assumed that we would have way more time to spend in bed together before... this.
"I'm not sure," Pearl confesses. “My period is late, but it's not unheard of for me to skip a month. I'm not really on a schedule or anything."
I relax a fraction. "Oh. Well... don't you want to know for sure? I would think that you would be excited to find out."
She looks at me for a long moment. "I am..."
"But..." I raise my eyebrows. "What?"
Pearl blushes and looks down at the table. "I just thought we would have more time. That's all."
My surprise must be apparent on my face, because she puts up a hand to stop me. "I know what we agreed. I also know that I'm having feelings that we didn't agree to from the get-go."
I reach out and catch her hand, squeezing it. "Slow down. We don't even know if we have to make that decision right now."
To say that I'm glad that we're on the same level is the understatement of the year.
She pushes out a breath. "You're right. I'm just having a crazy amount of anxiety and I haven't even taken the test."
I push the box back toward her. "No time like the present."
She swallows and nods. She scoots out of the booth, disappearing into the bathroom with the test.
While I wait for her, time slows. I try to figure out how I'm going to tell my fake fiancée that I want her to move into the cabin with me, no matter what. It seems like a crazy thing to ask, especially if I don't plan to have an actual relationship with her.
But the thought of waking up with no Pearl in the bed beside me every day isn't exactly pleasant. God, I don't want to face that today.
I just want Pearl to be there, wherever I go. Is that so wrong?
Hearing her laugh, seeing her eyes light up, having her sass me when I do things the wrong way… I want that.
Pearl doesn’t even know how rare and valuable I find the pleasure of her company.
